Identification of harpacticoid copepods sampled with a multiple corer during DIVA 1 expedition of RV METEOR (cruise M 48/1) from the Angola Basin yielded the enormous number of 684 species out of 2222 adult specimens. The species number is comparable to that provided by BAGULEY et al. (2006) for the Northern Gulf of Mexico deep-sea (696 species out of 3654 adults). However, BAGULEY et al. (2006) sampled 43 stations scattered over hundreds of kilometres, while we analysed data from only two stations 600 kilometres apart from each other.
Regarding the two stations from the Angola Basin, significant diversity differences were detected, the Northern station # 346 being far more diverse than the Southern station # 325 with respect to species density.